Apparatus for applying powder to thread



.Ean. 8, 1 c. R. SWANSON ETAL APPARATUS FOR APPLYING POWDER TO THREAD Original Filed Aug. 4, 1947 l N V E N TO RS Carl fifiwanson Etqgslll). Olson and 13.4%:

Frank I e ATTO RN EYS.

Patented Jan. 8, 1952 maaa'rus roa APPLYING rowpaa 'ro mean Carl R. Swanson, Central Village, and Ernest W. Olson, Swansea, Mass and Frank L. Armitage, Barrington, It. 1., assignors to The Firestone ration of Ohio Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, a corpo- Original application August 4, 1941, Serial No. 765,998. Divided and this applieation'March 5, 1949, Serial No. 79,808

2 Claims. (CI. 91-46) This invention relates. to an improved method of manufacturing latex thread. An important object of the invention resides in the provision of an improved method for the manufacture of extruded latex thread.

This application is a division of parent application Serial No. 765,998, filed August 4, 1947,

nowabandoned.

. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for applying a powder to' thread after the fixing and drying operations have been completed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent to persons skilled in, the art upon examination of the drawings, the specification and the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, illustrating extrusion and fixing stages of the method;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view illustrating the final wash, drying, powdering and windup stages of the method; and

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective showing the details of the apparatus employed to effect an improved method of powdering latex thread.

Referring to Fig. 1, a container I is provided for the reception of latex compound in liquid form, said compound being fed from one or more closed tanks II and I2, container Ill be- Suitableing upwardly open to the atmosphere. conduits l5 and Illeading from tanks H and II, respectively, lead to a single connecting eonduit IS, the lower end of which extends into container ill. A pair of control valves 22 and 23' are provided in conduits i5 and I 5 respectively. A level controlling conduit 23 provides communication between tanks H and i2, leading from the'upper walls thereof, and a. point 25 within container l8, to provide an, automatic fluid level control within that container. It is apparent that as liquid latex 30 rises within container l0 sufllciently to block the lower end of conduit 23 from the atmosphere, fluid flow through conduits l5, l5 and I! will be terminated due to the establishment of a partial vacuumintanks II and I2.

During operation of the device, a steady stream of the liquid compound flows through conduit 32, leading from a lower wall portion of container III to terminate in nozzle 33, producing a metered flow of latex compound as it extrudes from nozzle 33. Thread 35, which results from said extrusion, is drawn by suitable power actuated pulleys I1 through a fixing bath 38 55 2 maintained within a suitable shallow container 3!. Fixing or coagulating bath 38 may be an acid bath of a. type well-known in the art-,the composition of which forms no part of the present invention. From the coagulating bath the thread is drawn over roller 31 to enter a wash bath, for example, through a bath of clear water ll, partially filling shallow container 43. From the first wash bath, thread 35 may be drawn over roller to enter a second wash bath of clear water 41, within container 48.

. The coagulated and doubly washed uncured latex thread 35 is drawn from the second wash bath by pulley to enter a suitable drying chamber generically designated 52, of any wellk'nown type such as a steam, hot air, or electric dryer. The temperature within oven 52, and the rate of movement of thread 35 therethrough are so coordinated as to effect only a partial .cure of the thread during passage through the dryer. The circumferential speed of pulley is maintained equal to the circumferential speed of pulley 50 and consequently no substantial stretching of thread 35 takes place during passage thereof through dryer52. As thread 35 leaves pulley 55, it is drawn upwardly as shown by pul ley 51, the circumferential speed of which is greater than that of pulley 55, Since both pulleys 55 and 51 present a substantial degree of friction, slipping of thread 35 in the pulley groove surfaces does not occur and consequently a stretching of the thread is effected, the degree of stretch being proportional to and controllable by the circumferential speed differential existing between pulleys 55 and 51 respectively.

From pulley 51, thread 35 is drawn by pulley 50 across and adjacent to the planiform horizontallydisposed upper surface of the powdering unit, generically designated 65. A suitable dust.- ing powder, such as talc 66, is applied by unit 65, in a manner hereinafter described, the partially cured and powder-dusted thread, as a fin-- ished product, being drawn from pulley 6! by pulley 51, to be wound on a driven spool 69. I

Referring to Fig. 3, powdering unit may comprise a vertical member 1| upon which a divergent element 12 finds its support, a horizontally disposed flat element 13 being afllxed to.

element 12. A pair of flat elements 15 and I6 are slidably mounted in respect to. element 11- and supported thereby, elements 15 and 18 be ing in a common horizontal plane withelement 13 and sufliciently spaced from the margin thereof to permit relative transverse movement of elements 15 and 16 in respect to element 13.

, A pair of brackets 81 and ll depend respectively from elements 1! and 'II,'to provide pivotal connection for a pair of radius rods 83 and ll, said rods being in turn pivotallyconnected to a pair of drive wheels 81 and II mounted for rotation with drive shaft ll. Rods ll and 84 are connected to wheels l1 and 88 at points radially removed from the wheel centers to provide reciprocatory motionof rods 83 and 81 upon rotation of shaft ill. Shaft II is provided-witha suitable keyed sprocket 92 driven bychain 93 from a suitable source of power, not shown, for the reciprocationof elements I! and IQ, simultaneously in opposite directions.

Supported to extend upright from elements 15 and- II, are a pair of notched guide elements 98 and 91. movement of thread 35 while causing lateral .displacement equal to the reciprocatory movement of said elements A suitable quantity of dusting powder, such as tale, is spread over elements IS, IS and 16, and as thread 35 moves across the top of dusting unit 65, the thread is not only drawn through the dust thereon, but the lateral displacement of the thread in opposite directions by guides 96 and 91, causes a rolling action of the thread, as shown by arrows Ill and lll,'especially in that portion extending across element 13, to insure complete dusting of the entire thread surface.

opposite sides of .said supported member. said pair of members being mounted for slidable displacement transversely of said supported member in the common plane of said members. guide means for the thread ,on each of said pair of members, and means connected to said pair of members and arranged to reciprocate them in opposite directions.

2. In a device of the character described, a table-like assembly comprising a flat table top divided into a fixed, central portion and flat.

side portions having upper surfaces co-planar with the-upper surface of said central portion and movable with respect to said central por- Said guide elements allow free axial Modification may of course be resorted to without departure from the spirit-and scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims. What is claimed is:

1. In a device for applying powder to the outer surface of thread, in combination with a supported member having a flat, upper surface, a pair of members having flat, upper surfaces co' planar with said surface of said supported memher, and positioned laterally adjacent and on tion inthe common plane of said surfaces, guide I REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record-in the file of this patent:

' um'ran stra'rasra'rmzrs Number Name -Date' 501,971 steward July 25, 1893 685,512 Hanks Oct. 29, 1901 1,187,008 Nehring June 13, 1916 1,957,270 Keen et al. May 1, 1934 2,143,479 Esselen Jan. 10. 1939 

